Once in a while there's a bad day here at Cycle Chic. I wasn't even trying to take a photo of this Copenhagener. I was focused on something up ahead. My finger hit the button and I first saw the result at home.
Which goes to show that you can virtually close your eyes and point your camera in Copenhagen and you'll probably end up with a shot of a chic Copenhagener.
I love this rainy day shot. I love all the shots when a cyclist is just launching into motion but this one is great. Both chaps have just reached speed and their right feet are gliding towards the pedals. It's stationary and yet filled with movement, motion, momentum.
This Five Cycling Senses is an aesthetic series so I won't dwell too long on the obvious 'smell' factor regarding urban cycling - exhaust from motor vehicles. I'll just hurry up and link to this post over at Copenhagenize.com about how studies have shown that the level of polluting particles is higher INSIDE cars than next to them on a bike. So while we have to live with exhaust, we can pity the motorists.
And this post highlights how traffic [meaning pollution and noise] kills ten times more people than traffic accidents, so cycling is a fantastic, safe way to stay healthy.
And as with the cyclist on the lovely, wide bike lane above, we can just zip right past the cars anyway.
Meanwhile, back at the poetry... For me, when considering Smell in relation to urban cycling in Copenhagen, one thing pops instantly into my mind. Perfume.
Not a single day passes without perfume wafting up my nose on the bike lanes, and I'm not exaggerating. Cycling here is a fashionable affair [as if you haven't noticed that already] and perfume or cologne are second nature.
Whether having a fellow Copenhagener overtake me or just following in the slipstream, perfume adds aromatic colour to the urban landscape. Even waiting at the red light downwind of another cyclist, the scent of their perfume, or even their shampoo, often drifts your way. Nice aromas but it also heightens that sense of being close to your fellow citizens. It's personal, somehow, even if you're strangers.
I can't honestly remember any negative smell experiences involving sweat or body odour.
Certainly during the summer, the scent of suntan lotion is everywhere in the afternoons when people are heading home from the beaches.
Like in the post about Taste, I'm quite convinced that I can smell the seasons. The most strikingly aromatic season has to be autumn. The sweet organic smell of fallen leaves, intensified after the rain. The cooler air somehow sharpening the scent.
Surely we can taste sunlight? Whether in high-summer, mid-winter or in the early days of spring?
We can certainly smell the woods and the fields when we take shortcuts to work, and the seasons possess each their own unique combination of odours.
I'm quite sure we can agree that we can smell the rain.
I have this thing about water. Wherever possible I like to ride past it. Riding over the bridges in Copenhagen you'll always see people glancing to their right at the harbour. I suppose it's an addendum to the post about Sight, but the harbour has changeable scents, too. The salt water smell is vague and suggestive in the winter and richer in texture in the summer. The above film is comprised of stills that I took over six months on my way to work. I can smell the sea water just looking at the film.
A few years ago I rode in another direction out of town to work, past a lake outside the city limits. The scents were just as remarkable and rememberable - the latter word was not a word until just now - as on the harbour.
In the post about Taste, coffee was mentioned, and that applies to Smell. Whether your own coffee on the bike or someone next to you. Not a bad aroma.
This is Marc from Amsterdamize who was so sweet to show Copenhagen Cycle Chic around Amsterdam this summer. We can't wait to drink him under the table if he ever dares to show up here in CPH...
A series of Amsterdam beauties:
To say whether Amsterdam or Copenhagen is the most cycle chic city is like having to choose between salty licorice and chocolate... (very difficult for a Dane, actually!)
But then, if you can combine the two (CPH & A-dam cycle chic), why bother?
Here's a video Marc shot while biking Velomama (aka Marie) around town. We're discussing the differences between Amsterdam and Copenhagen's bike culture - for instance the use of panniers and boxes vs. baskets, the use of bike locks and the extend of traffic regulation in the two cities...
It's autumn. There's no doubt about it. Or is there? Certain visual signals in the city are confusing. The sun is shining and the temperature is the same as in April. Colourful flowers on bike baskets, as above, are a century-old tradition but they send your mind into springtime. Then there's this shot. This is confusing. Brightly coloured flowers on a city square. The chairs stacked up could be a sign of the start of the outdoor serving season - indeed that is one of the surest signs of spring in Copenhagen. The cafés start stacking chairs outside waiting for the first mild day. The girl's outfit is certainly springlike. Skirt and stockings, as though it's the first day she shed her jacket, which is in her basket. Rainy days. Definately springtime.
We're going to reveal a shocking fashion secret. Right here on this blog. For all the world to see. In the closets of most Copenhageners - even the chicest of the chic - there is a rain jacket. Maybe even a pair of matching rain trousers. We don't talk about it much and it's rather uncomfortable mentioning it here but it is true nonetheless. It's our Inconvenient Truth.
It's traditionally a rainy climate in the winter. Drizzly, drab and pooey. Only when the forecast is for day-long rain does the rubber come out. Actually, the Danish Meteological Institute did a study a while back about the odds of cyclists getting rained on during their commute - which is really encouraging. Many Copenhageners aren't THAT fussed about getting bit wet. If it pours down all of a sudden, cyclists huddle together under awnings or trees. If it looks like it'll continue, they end up just getting back on the bike and riding away.
But just like in most regions, we are experiencing our own weather quirks thanks to climate change. At this time of year we are getting downpours. So much that the sewers in some areas can't handle the water. The other day it rained. All day. Pouring. Old man snoring and all that. And out came the dreaded rubber. However, some cyclists, as the two above, seem to make it work. Wellingtons and rain jackets are suddenly quite fashionable. In light rain, there are options available for friends who are heading out together. Just keep your brolley close at hand. It's an art form in Copenhagen, riding with an umbrella. This Dutch invention would be great here in Copenhagen. An umbrella holder for your bike from Drybike.nl.
More rainy day cycling moods - with music. Not to forget the rain poncho airbag combo.
There were showers on and off yesterday but it was lovely and warm. Here's a Copenhagen supermum heading home in the afternoon. Perhaps she's picking up the little one[s] today, perhaps it's the dad.
Here's a little teaser for a longer version I'm working on.
Sometimes you ride with your umbrella, sometimes you walk. Check the Biking With Umbrellas tag for more photos.
Would she have chose those orange earrings if she rode a green bike? Unlikely. Bikes are mere transport, but they are a part of your fashion style and your personality in Copenhagen.
Ride and smoke in the casualness of Copenhagenishness.
We posted about Topshop's new bicycle advert the other day. A reader let us know about The Gap's version from a couple of years ago.
Time for some guest photos sent to us from around the world or posted in our Flickr group. Copenhagen Cycle Chic goes global. Thanks for thinking of us and keep the guest photos coming! Constantin sent in this photo of his wife, Verena returning from her 10 km [each way] daily ride to work. She rides a 1998 replica of the first mountain-bike, "THE KLUNKER" by Gary Fisher. With style, selbstverständlich. Putting the Oh! back into Ottawa. Thanks to Chris. The lady is riding a fine Skeppshult bicycle from Sweden.
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